I work closely with my graduate students and maintain an active research
program. Previous publications from my lab have dealt extensively the evolution
of the vertebrate skeleton, specifically why vertebrates maintain a phosphatic,
rather than an invertebrate-like calcitic skeleton. Currently, research
in my lab focuses on a variety of intriguing problems associated with the
evolution of endothermy, in birds, mammals and their
ancestors. With a view toward providing broad new insight into questions
such as when and why endothermy evolved, ongoing NSF-funded research in
my laboratory ranges from CAT-scan analysis of 200 million year old fossil
mammal-like reptile skulls to sophisticated analysis of songbird respiratory
physiology. Presently, for example, my graduate students and I are close
to resolving long-standing questions about the metabolic status of dinosaurs
and early (Mesozoic Era) birds (for a popular account, see December,'96,
Discovery Magazine: "A Cold, Hard Look at Dinosaurs,"
pps. 98-108.).